Wednesday, December 07, 2011

JILL WILLIAMSON is a novelist, dreamer, and believer. Growing up in Alaska led to a love of books, and in 2010 her first novel, By Darkness Hid, won the Christy Award. She loves working with teenagers and gives writing workshops at libraries, schools, camps, and churches. Jill lives in Oregon with her husband and two children. Visit her at www.jillwilliamson.com, where adventure comes to life.

Abby Goyer is forced to move to rural Alaska when her father unexpectedly takes a job in a remote laboratory called Jason Farms. Suspicious of her father’s decisions, she investigates and finds more than what she was looking for when a strange boy shows up at her door. Martyr, one of fifty-five identical clones, escaped from the underground lab at the farm with one wish: to see the sky before he fulfills his purpose and “expires” on his eighteenth birthday. Abby tries to help Martyr see that God has a purpose for his life, one that is different from the one the scientists originally planned for him.

Getting to Know Your Readers
One of my favorite things to do is talk with my readers. I love speaking to teens because it gives me the perfect opportunity to meet my target audience. I have so much fun getting to know students after my presentation, taking pictures with them and asking them what they’re reading now, what their favorite books are, or what the story they are writing is about.

I also enjoy connecting with readers online or via snail mail, though that has a very different feel to it. I’ve had some great conversations through email, cried over letters from readers, and had many laughs on Facebook with people who know me through my books. Even though it’s time consuming, I respond to every message I receive.

My husband is a youth pastor, so this is another way that I get to hang out with my target audience every week. And I know most of these teens really well.

And I’m blessed to have a couple teenage critique partners.

I’ve found that success with my readers is all about building a relationship with them. That might start with my novel or it might start with a kind word in an unlikely place. I met a teenager once at the park when I took my kids swimming. This girl was there as a babysitter. While we watched our kids, I asked her what she was reading and we got to talking about books. Eventually it came out that I was a writer, and she was excited about meeting me.

The key is to start conversations with people, and for those conversations to be successful, you want to ask the other person about her life. If an opportunity arises to mention your book, go for it. If not, trust that loving on someone is all that’s necessary that day. It’s the Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People, mindset. And it works. That shouldn’t be a surprise, though. After all, Jesus said it best: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

If what we all want, deep down, is to be asked about what we are struggling with, how we are really doing, and what we do for a living, then, according to Jesus, those are the questions we need to be asking others.

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Thank you, Jill, for sharing with us today.

Guest Question: How do you connect with your readers? Do you speak? Are you more of an online communicator? Or do you meet your readers elsewhere? As a reader, what do you like to see from authors whose books you read? If you were to get to know them, what would be your preferred method or sequence from introduction to relationship?

ENTRY RULES Readers, leave your email address (name at domainname dot com/net) along with your answer to the question for your chance to win a FREE autographed copy of the book featured above. If you do not answer the question, and your email address isn't provided, you will not be entered. And if you don’t like to read teen science fiction, maybe there is a teen in your life who’d like the book.

As a reader, I like keeping up with my favorite authors via Facebook. It's cool because I can find out what's happening with their writing, be alerted to release dates, and sometimes get sneak peeks of their WIPs. :-) Plus, I enjoy getting to know the authors better as a person.

P.S. I also have my pin from the ACFW conf. Clones ARE People Too! :-D

I usually connect with my readers via school visits where I hold workshops. The kids always amaze me with what they create. Last year's workshop was one of the best. As far as promotion goes, though, I usually do it via blogs and social media.

As a Writer I love to talk to readers face to face, I love seeing their reactions when they talk about something that happened in my book. As a reader to I love to read my favorite writer's blogs and I enjoy emailing them.

Wow, this book looks incredibly interesting. I can't wait to get my hands on it, because I really enjoyed Jill's last series :) I love connecting with authors through facebook or twitter and getting a sneak peak at upcoming books.

For authors, it's really fun to meet our readers and hear what they liked/disliked about our books.

And for readers, it's fun meeting authors and getting to tell them stuff like that.

I got to meet Frank Peretti one day out of the blue. He was sitting in my church! He came with one of our new attendees, a young man who was in Los Angeles, taking an acting class. Frank Peretti was his partner in class and the young man invited Frank to our church. We took them both out to lunch afterwards. It was a neat experience. And the kid didn't know that Frank was an author or that some of his books had been made into movies. LOL

As a reviewer & reader, I like to connect with my favorite authors via Facebook and their blogs. I also watch for author visits in my area. Loved having the chance to host Bryan & Amanda Davis at our school.

As a school librarian, I connect with my students by hosting book clubs, sharing my book reviews and recommendations both in person and online, and listening to what they really like . . . my email is cgehringer(at)gracechristian(dot)net.